Rebirth of Harmony
by Of Miracles And Men
Summary: When Equestria is ravaged by an unknown force practically everyone is killed; Discord, Zecora, and Dr. Hooves decide to make one last-ditch attempt to save them and make a world where everyone is human and they have no memory of their past lives at all. However, the spell they use to fix it wanes and six young women begin to discover the cracks in it. [Created after losing a bet.]


**So, just a word of introduction. To those who read my other stories, yes, I know this is quite a change of pace, but I actually made this a while ago after I actually lost a bet (and never told anyone I lost it) and, after much plotting and rewriting, I've finally redone the prologue and wanted to show you all. **

**So please, welcome, come in, sit back, (my friend recommended kleenex, but I think that's for later chapters), and please, enjoy! **

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Discord had not wept in centuries. Millennia, even. Tears were below him; they were simply not suited to him, they were simply meant for other, lesser, more unfortunate folks to suffer, not him, oh, definitely not for the likes of him. After all, what in the world would a God of Chaos have to shed tears about?

_What indeed. _

The column that had previously supported the remaining corner of Celestia's palace cracked, like a chink in fine, unmarred china, spreading like a disease up the very framework of it until a sound, as if ice was splintering, echoed through the dark night, and then slowly split into two and made a jerky, halting descent to the ground; as if time had decided to fracture all around the grounds of what had once been a bold projection of architecture, with crystalline spires that arced up to the heavens and proud flags that flapped in the wind, displaying the crest of Canterlot for all to see.

The rubble that it erupted from the ground and the dust that billowed out did not even perturb him as he meandered past the charred remnants of the grand doorway, melted into molten iron, and ran a long claw through it absentmindedly, leaving a searing hiss and the metal white-hot, as if it was burning once more, burning as the whole palace had been not several hours before.

His gaze wandered through the room where banners smoldered on the debris of fallen walls, flickering with dregs of dying flames, past the throne that was nothing more than kindling for a fire, past the bodies that were strewn on the floor…

No. He couldn't find look away. They were the one thing that pervaded, the one thing that reached out to him, reminding him of his own self, his own sense of life, that although he twisted and warped it, could not deny, and he found himself quickly approaching the not-quite-cold, not-quite-warm bodies that lay on the floor, still flushed with the remnants of life that make one still seem alive.

But he only paid heed to one of the bodies that still lay there, he looked past the muted violet feathers that molted, scattered on Twilight Sparkle's body in a last desperate attempt to protect her friends from the blast with her wings. He ignored the almost solemn expression of acceptance, mingling with finality, on Pinkiepie's face, her eyes closed as she awaited her fate to befall her, the humor, for once, disappeared.

He looked past the cowboy hat that mercifully covered Applejack's last expression of life as she reclined in death. He looked past the slumped body of Rainbow Dash's, even the pained expression of Rarity's, he even found himself all but too happy to be ignorant of the two princesses that were hooves joined together in a final display of camaraderie and sisterly forgiveness and love as they decided to perish, in a last stand to protect their kingdom and their closest friends and family.

But he didn't care about that. He could have cared less. There was only one that he cared for, only one that he cherished, more than all and any of the dead that should have at least been paid their respects to, no, he only cared for one, he only cared for the limp, pale, pony that was sprawled upon the floor, her glossy pink hair spread on the floor as she tried to shield Applejack, the final act of kindness that she would ever bestow.

Vision blurring, he gently, oh-so-gently, scooped up Fluttershy's body, brushing her hair away from her face, so that he could look at that lovely face, lovely even after she was gone, and his clawed hand, used harshly or cruelly, was tender as he brushed her cheek, softly, and then descended down to her neck, where a simple necklace with an oh-so-simple, elegant ring hung, a ring that promised eternal love as long as one shall live, one that matched that which Discord wore upon his neck, or pocket-watch, or whatever tickled his fancy at the moment.

She almost looked like she was asleep, dreaming of faraway lands and secret worlds that she only knew about. But she wasn't. Discord knew she wasn't.

The column cracked loudly and shifted an inch downwards to the ground, snapping like ancient bones.

His head bowed and unwittingly, his hands began to tremble, eyes closing, to cover away, cover up the pain that consumed him like the fire that was raging, like a faraway candlelight, consuming the houses of Canterlot not far away, and a noise, unfamiliar to him, escaped his mouth and made him look in surprise, half-hoping, half-desperate, to look at Fluttershy, that some vestige of life had preserved her, that she would be alive and well.

But no. There was no noise from her, and it took him a moment longer for him to realize that it was not Fluttershy who had made the noise, it was him; a sob, heart-wracking and painful that had escaped him, and he held his wife of one year to him as if she was the only thing anchoring him to the world that seemed too cruel, too forbidding to him, and his shoulders silently shook as he held her.

The hall was silent save the sobs of a God of Chaos and two sets of hooves that descended upon the scene of carnage and destruction, giving Discord cause to, for a moment, lower his slain wife and turn to the melted, molten doorway, where a figure clad in singed robes and another in a red bow tie approached him, one hesitantly, as if he knew of the pain he carried, and the other proudly strutted, uncaring of his pain.

"_Discord, 'tis not the end,"_ Zecora said, almost as if she were sternly dictating as she neared him, _"there is still time to fix and mend."_

"What she said," Dr. Hooves said, nervously pawing behind her, horrified at the carnage before him yet almost experienced to it, as if he had seen it many times before and would see it many times after, "We've found...ah…a solution."

"A solution," Discord said, dryly, as if he was amused at this attempt to try to make what was wrong right, as if the fact that they could help would make any difference. Dead was dead.

"And what kind of solutions do you have to offer, hmm? Solutions that would have me helping _you,_ Zecora, in the Crystal Mountains, helping _you_ when my wife was in mortal danger? Or _you,_" Discord said, rounding on the zebra's companion, who grimaced, _"Hooves, _listening to your blasted advice and nearly killing myself and you in the process when I could have saved her? When I could have saved her?"

There was no longer mischief in Discord's eyes, only cold fury and pain, the only chaos the kind that burns and destroys, and it made the good doctor realize just how much the draconequs could do with just a snap of his fingers, whilst the zebra stood her ground and her steely eyes grew steelier.

"_Your threats do not frighten me. We have a way to fix this, do you not see?"_ she asked, calmly; only stoking the fire that chose to explode.

"No, I don't see! My wife is dead—Equestria is in ruins—you're babbling nonsense—Hooves is there—I can't see how this can be fixed!" he roared.

"I say," Dr. Hooves muttered under his breath but chose to stand behind Zecora.

"_Pain blinds you, rage keeps you enthralled. Calm yourself, and this can be solved!" _ she snapped back, her composure lost for the moment and anger flaring, eyes flashing a most dangerous glow that would have matched the one's in Discord's, and in that moment he understood how Zecora had not gotten away from this chain of devastation scot-free either. There were things that she was suffering from too; yet only she and she alone would choose to bear.

Hooves took this as the moment to press the advantage while Zecora calmed herself.

"Discord. I wouldn't lie to you, and neither would Zecora. There's a way to solve all of this—" he gesticulated to all of the bloodshed about the two of them, "—and we can prove it. But we need you to listen first; we can't complete it without you."

Hooves waited for a moment, and both he and Discord regarded each other for a moment, waiting for a response from the other.

"You look different." Was all Discord managed out after the silence swaddled them up for a long enough amount of time, "What happened to you?"

The good Doctor bowed his head, stiff with grief he was still not used to yet. "After Derpy…after Derpy…_died_, I succumbed to my wounds too. But I have a 'Get out of Jail Free' card, y'see, and I woke up a few hours later, good as new, including a new body and new everything."

"But no new Derpy, huh?" Discord asked quietly, and the two of them shared a look of mutual empathy as they tried their best to keep from crumbling away.

"No." he said, and at this Zecora felt it best to continue forward and look to the God of Chaos who continued to hold his wife, cold as ice.

"_Discord." _She said, and looked to him, as he turned to look at her, and, his attention drawn, if but for a moment, she chose it to continue.

"_There is a way to save your wife; but to do it; it will mean a new life. _

_With your help, the Doctor's, and my spell, we can escape from this foul hell._

_But be warned, to have this path to take means that everything from this life will at the next be at stake. _

_Your wife and everyone else will indeed be alive, my friend, but will have no memory of life before their end. _

_None of whom will be saved tonight will have a memory of their former life. _

_But compared to what has occurred tonight, that hardly counts as any strife." _

The Doctor and Zecora both waited patiently, for his answer.

"We can only do this with your help, mate," Dr. Hooves said quietly, as Discord looked away from the two awaiting his answer, to look at Fluttershy, who would never smile again, who would never laugh at his jokes, who would never say a kind, loving word again, who would never be graced with all that life could give her and all she gave back.

Finally, his gaze left her to the other bodies of those that had died that night as well, resting on each of them, for a solid, solemn moment, and then he looked to Zecora and Dr. Hooves and knew what he had to do.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

Zecora and the Doctor grimly smiled.

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**So, what did you guys think? If you would, a kind word or some constructive criticism would do nicely, but no flames please! Thank you very much! **

**(And sorry if Fluttercord isn't your OTP, but it is for me. Thank you! And also, to anyone who may ask, I actually made this before Equestria Girls, and I will indeed make it different from the premise of the movie. Once more, thank you very much.) **


End file.
